Project to document oral histories of ECU graduates

GREENVILLE, NC
(Jan. 10, 2008)
—
East Carolina University’s J.Y. Joyner Library is working with the campus Centennial Task Force to prepare an oral history of first-generation graduates of the university. Twenty interviews will be conducted this spring and early summer with alumni who were the first members of their families to graduate from college.

Interviewees will be selected from the following time periods: pre-1945; 1946-1965; 1966-1985; 1986-2005. An effort will be made to select interviewees who represent the spectrum of students on campus during each time period. Trained interviewers will ask alumni to discuss their family background, home community, college experience and the impact their education has had on their lives.

The interviews will be made available for scholarly research at Joyner Library’s Special Collections Department and through the Web site of the University Archives, and a public program will be held in 2009 to showcase the results of the project. The interviewees will be asked to sign a release form so that their stories will be accessible to the public.

First-generation graduates of ECU are requested to send a brief statement about their experience at East Carolina to Maury York, Assistant Director for Special Collections, J.Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, N.C. 27858-4353 by April 1. E-mail messages may be directed to yorkm@ecu.edu (please use “Centennial Oral History Project” in the subject line). Personal contact information should be included. Persons selected to participate in the project will be notified soon after April 1.